Alfonso Soriano skipped out of the batter’s box. His blast ripped through the soupy Mid-Atlantic night. It was a two-run homer his second of the night the sort of drive that causes grown men to rejoice and pulled the Yankees ahead in a 7-5 victory.

Soriano keyed a four-run eighth inning that allowed his team to pull even in the second game of a four-game set with their fellow Wild Card chasers. The Yankees (77-68) won for just the second time in six games.

Earlier in the frame Alex Rodriguez atoned for a bizarre fielding decision two innings earlier. He had cut off a throw home that allowed a run to score and appear to confuse his teammates. His choice mattered little in the eighth when he sparked a go-ahead rally off Orioles rookie Kevin Gausman.

Rodriguez turned on a 97-mph fastball inside at the knees and roped a leadoff double. Robinson Cano tied the game with a single up the middle. Then Soriano went deep. A pair of doubles by Curtis Granderson and Mark Reynolds created another tally.

The Yankees had staged a mini-meltdown in the sixth. Eduardo Nunez committed an error. Rodriguez cut off that throw. And Ivan Nova served up a two-run homer to Orioles slugger Chris Davis. But the team rallied from a three-run deficit to triumph. Mariano Rivera collected a four-out save.

The game lacked any simmering tension left over from Monday. Manager Joe Girardi did not harangue Orioles third-base coach Bobby Dickerson about allegedly attempting to steal signs. Baltimore manager Buck Showalter did not charge Girardi in anger. Both parties exhibited decorum.

Earlier in the afternoon though Showalter lobbed a few verbal grenades. During an interview with ESPN New York radio he labeled the Yankees as “one of the better teams” at in-game espionage. Showalter maintained his team’s innocence but suggested “sometimes paranoia in baseball is a good thing.”

Girardi declined to return fire. He refused to divulge the reason for his anger at Dickerson. He repeated his refrain from Monday. “I’m going to do everything I can to protect our players” he said.